23: “The club should mean more than the football” Samantha and Shawn, Canada - FC St Pauli, Germany.

Far Away Fan

Samantha and Shawn are from Canada and are fans of FC St Pauli.
Shawn had seen a page in a sports catalog about a team he had never heard of. He was a Liverpool supporter at the time but the skull and crossbones motif made a distinct impression. Years later when he didn’t feel the connection to Liverpool anymore, he recalled the motif, looked up the club on the internet, and read about FC St Pauli and the culture and politics of the club. He started to discuss the club with his fiance Samantha, a Manchester United fan who was disillusioned by the appointment of Jose Mourinho, and they have been on this amazing journey and shared passion for FC St Pauli ever since.
They have a podcast called Fell In Love With A Girl: An FC St. Pauli Podcast 7000km Removed
We spoke about their trip to the stadium in Hamburg with their friend Nick Davidson who has written a book called about the club called Pirates, Punks & Politics.
They talked me through the fantastic culture and fan driven ethos of the club, which you can see in the projects such as Viva Con Agua, the clean water project started by a now retired player and supported by the club. The Levi’s Music School which uses Levi’s corporate suite at the club during non-match days to provide free music lesson to kids in the district.
They shared with me a wonderful and crazy story about a pair of goalkeeper’s gloves signed by Philipp Heerwagen that you have to hear!
We went on to discuss how entertaining Bundesliga’s second division can be with it constantly shuffling week after week,
Listen to their wonderful and heartwarming response when I ask them what following the club has brought to their lives.